Cairoli injury!!!!

Antonio Cairoli is concerned with an injured knee he picked up in the opening moto of todays GP in Switzerland. If the injury makes it impossible to race in the coming rounds, then there is a chance Herlings will be crowned world champion in the coming days. Depending on the outcome of a doctors appointment for the Italian. 

“There is something wrong with me knee,” Cairoli said. “It doesn’t feel good. I want to see how my knee reacts, first moto I finished but it was barely with one leg and I checked with my physician and I hope it’s isn’t the ligament, not broken, just stretched, and I will try and ride, and see what happens in the second race.”

 Herlings lead over third placed man Clement Desalle is close to 200 points with four rounds to go.

Herlings wins in Switzerland

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jeffrey Herlings has won his 80^th GP (13^th of the season and 18^th GP victory from 22 GPs), and extended his championship points lead to 58pts to defending MXGP champion Antonio Cairoli. 

The big news was not so much the victory by Herlings, but the injury picked up by Cairoli in the opening moto of the day, as the Italian twisted his knee and was concerned he had damaged his ligament. He did ride the second moto for sixth place.

Herlings went 1-1 and Cairoli could only manage 8-6 results. With 733pts for Herlings and 675pts for Cairoli the points lead is now 58 points. Anything can happen, but its going to be hard work for the Sicilian to regain his title and get that 10^th world championship.

“I am on top of the world right now,” Herlings said. “That is my personal feeling. Two pretty good starts, second wasn’t as good but I managed to do my own pace and to win on difficult tracks like this is pretty amazing for me. I want to thank the team and all the support. I can’t wait for Bulgaria, we did some pretty good things today for the championship. We did a good job, they guys are working so hard on the bike and we keep trying to improve and get better. Today was about points and went 1-1. Four more to go and thanks to everyone around."

"To be on the podium is always nice," Febvre said. "The team did a good job. Now we work hard on the start and it is really good now and when yo ustart on the front it is easier. i had the speed of Jeffrey but he pulled a gap. I am happy."

"Actually," Desalle said. "Three good starts and the first moto was good. I was disapponted with the second moto, I was leading and got passed by Herlings and Febve and finished fourth, but I am still positive."

At the start of the second MXGP moto, it was Desalle in the lead from Lieber, Febvre, Cairoli, Montichelli, Paulin, Herlings, Gajser, Simpson and Anstie. Herlings quickly into third place and flying as usual. Cairoli slowly losing places and seemingly struggling with his knee. Herlings into second place and just amazing again.

After one lap it was Desalle, Herlings, Febvre, Gajser, Cairoli, Lieber, Anstie, Seewer, Simpson, and Bobryshev 10^th. Lieber went down hard and dropped out of the top ten.

Desalle riding brilliantly in first place as he kept Herlings from closing up, and Coldenhoff moved into the top ten with Lieber in 17^th place.

Febvre doing what seemed impossible close up on Herlings and was putting pressure on the red plate owner. Cairoli was still in fifth, but right on his tail was Anstie.

Desalle, Herlings and Febvre all locked together in a great race up front. Herlings knew he had to get past Desalle, because Febvre was looking very hungry.

Herlings suddenly took the lead from Desalle as he dived up the inside of the Belgian rider, and Seewer was out of the race with a dead bike. Lupino into the top ten with Seewer out.

Anstie passed Cairoli for fifth place and the Italian losing more points to Herlings.

Febvre went past Desalle, as did Gajser, and the points Desalle is losing is making the championship picture for Herlings very strong. If Cairoli is out for Bulgaria, and Turkey, will Herlings be crowned in Bulgaria next weekend?

Herlings wins the moto, the GP and makes a big brake in Cairoli in the points race. Herlings in fact is 190 points ahead of third placed man Desalle, who will more than likely drop out of the championship picture after Bulgarian next weekend (200 points available going into Bulgaria).

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 - Classification

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:40.600; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:14.868; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:17.722; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:26.984; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:37.939; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:46.833; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:51.700; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:55.465; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:04.298; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +1:09.295; 11. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Suzuki), +1:12.971; 12. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:14.490; 13. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +1:24.088; 14. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:27.285; 15. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +1:32.335; 16. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +1:34.119; 17. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +1:42.332; 18. Todd Waters (AUS, Honda), +1:43.439; 19. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:59.395; 20. Petar Petrov (BUL, Honda), -1 lap(s); 21. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 22. Ander Valentin (ESP, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 23. Nathan Renkens (BEL, Honda), -1 lap(s); 24. Andy Baumgartner (SUI, KTM), -1 lap(s); 25. Jason Clermont (FRA, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 26. Nicolas Bender (SUI, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 27. Yves Furlato (SUI, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 28. Robin Kappel (FRA, Kawasaki), -2 lap(s); 29. Alessandro Brugnoni (ITA, KTM), -2 lap(s); 30. Cyrill Scheiwiller (SUI, Yamaha), -3 lap(s); 31. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, Yamaha), -5 lap(s); 32. Jonathan Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), -5 lap(s); 33. Davide Bonini (ITA, KTM), -7 lap(s); 34. Kim Schaffter (SUI, Kawasaki), -14 lap(s); 35. Thomas Marini (SMR, Kawasaki), -15 lap(s);

MXGP - GP Classification

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 42 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 32 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 31 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 29 p.; 7. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 21 p.; 11. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, SUZ), 20 p.; 12. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 20 p.; 13. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KAW), 18 p.; 14. Tanel Leok (EST, HUS), 13 p.; 15. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 13 p.; 16. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 10 p.; 17. Todd Waters (AUS, HON), 9 p.; 18. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 7 p.; 19. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 7 p.; 20. Petar Petrov (BUL, HON), 3 p.; 21. Klemen Gercar (SLO, HUS), 1 p.; 22. Ander Valentin (ESP, HUS), 0 p.; 23. Nathan Renkens (BEL, HON), 0 p.; 24. Andy Baumgartner (SUI, KTM), 0 p.; 25. Jason Clermont (FRA, KAW), 0 p.; 26. Nicolas Bender (SUI, HUS), 0 p.; 27. Yves Furlato (SUI, HUS), 0 p.; 28. Robin Kappel (FRA, KAW), 0 p.; 29. Alessandro Brugnoni (ITA, KTM), 0 p.; 30. Cyrill Scheiwiller (SUI, YAM), 0 p.; 31. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, YAM), 0 p.; 32. Jonathan Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), 0 p.; 33. Davide Bonini (ITA, KTM), 0 p.; 34. Kim Schaffter (SUI, KAW), 0 p.; 35. Thomas Marini (SMR, KAW), 0 p.; 36. Michael Docherty (RSA, HUS), 0 p.; 37. Graeme Irwin (GBR, KTM), 0 p.;

MXGP - World Championship Classification

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 733 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 675 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 543 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 510 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 507 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 455 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 420 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 371 p.; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 350 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 298 p.; 11. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, SUZ), 261 p.; 12. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KAW), 232 p.; 13. Maximilian Nagl (GER, TM), 227 p.; 14. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 205 p.; 15. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 201 p.; 16. Shaun Simpson (GBR, YAM), 170 p.; 17. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 130 p.; 18. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HON), 111 p.; 19. Tanel Leok (EST, HUS), 102 p.; 20. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 94 p.; 21. Maxime Desprey (FRA, KAW), 89 p.; 22. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 80 p.; 23. Todd Waters (AUS, HON), 42 p.; 24. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, YAM), 41 p.; 25. Graeme Irwin (GBR, KTM), 41 p.; 26. Benoit Paturel (FRA, KTM), 40 p.; 27. Petar Petrov (BUL, HON), 40 p.; 28. Harri Kullas (EST, HUS), 18 p.; 29. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 15 p.; 30. Lewis Stewart (AUS, HUS), 13 p.; 31. Ander Valentin (ESP, HUS), 8 p.; 32. Jeffrey Dewulf (BEL, KTM), 7 p.; 33. Aldi Lazaroni (INA, HUS), 6 p.; 34. Rizky Hanif Kusparwanto (INA, HUS), 6 p.; 35. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 5 p.; 36. Jetro Salazar (PER, HON), 5 p.; 37. Erki Kahro (EST, KTM), 5 p.; 38. Filip Bengtsson (SWE, YAM), 3 p.; 39. Stefan Ekerold (GER, KTM), 3 p.; 40. Gregory Aranda (FRA, KAW), 3 p.; 41. Andre Sondakh (INA, KTM), 3 p.; 42. Paulo Alberto (POR, YAM), 2 p.; 43. Klemen Gercar (SLO, HUS), 1 p.; 44. Sven Van der Mierden (NED, YAM), 1 p.;

Is Colton Haaker riding the best track you’ve ever seen?

This might be the most radical RadSHT track you’re ever seen. Colton Haaker ripping it like never before on one awesome stretch of dirt all in the name of Real Moto, the freestyle FMX video contest for X Games

Paul Whibley Team Suzuki Off-Road 2007-2008

Paul Whibley always got tough as the conditions worsened. He was hugely fit and dug deep and smiled when others grimaced at ugly- weather plagued events.

When Paul used a whole roll of duct tape to protect his hands in a mudder, the team frowned because the bike looked ‘hack’ heading to the line. When he was on the podium after a three hour grueler all bad thoughts vanished.

In the OMA world Whibley took over Jimmy Jarrett’s reign with 5-straight championships from 2008-2012, then won again in 2014.  

Paul Whibley was one of the most dominating off-road racers on the U.S scene from 2008 all the way to 2014. He won six OMA Championships, had 19 wins in GNCC competition and one championship. Paul could win on any machine, racing a Honda early on, switched to Suzuki, then Kawasaki and finished his career racing for Team Am Pro Yamaha. In 2007 and 2008 he raced for Team Suzuki Off-road, which was a powerhouse in the off-road arena. These words come from Mike Webb, who was the team manager.

“Paul raced for two years with the team. I always admired his work ethic, he worked as a lumberjack in his native New Zealand before coming stateside and he carried that blue collar discipline with him. When I first hired him, he and his late wife were living primarily in their beater Ford van traveling from race to race.

He was a no nonsense guy and stubborn as hell, but I liked that. Of all the great off road racers I had he might have been the best mudder, he wasn’t the fastest but was far and away the toughest.

One year at the GNCC opener in Fl., Paul was getting his gear on prior to the start and had tossed his chest protector in the grass outside the semi as he dressed- he wore it under his jersey Euro style. He then put on his chest protector and then his jersey. Suddenly he’s frantically ripping off his jersey and pulling off his chest protector. Turns out he had tossed the protector into a mound of red fire ants hidden in the grass. He immediately had huge welts appearing all over his upper body. I looked at him and asked “Paul what can we do”? He just started getting dressed again and said “nothing mate”, and calmly went to the line, I think he finished on the box.

His bike was set up like the other team bikes but with his suspension spec. I do remember him at a mudder taping small sticks length wise on his grips, we all looked in disbelief but then he went out and won the OA. He additional edge on the grip when muddy let him hold on far easier. He was a gnarly dude who was hugely underrated in his career.”

Coldenhoff and Covington win in Belgium

Glenn Coldenhoff and Thomas Covington have won the Belgian International race today, the Red Bull KTM Factory rider going 2-1 for victory in the MXGP class and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider Covington going 1-1 in MX2

Trophee Sylvain Geboers

1              259                         Glenn COLDENHOFF       47           22           25

2              124                         Shaun SIMPSON               47           25           22

3              20                           Yentel MARTENS              36           18           18

4              22                           Kevin STRIJBOS 36           20           16

5              152                         Petar PETROV    35           15           20

6              193                         Jonathan BENGTSSON   28           16           12

7              26                           Jérémy DELINCE               27           14           13

8              107                         Lars VAN BERKEL              25           11           14

9              12                           Jeffrey DEWULF 23           12           11

10           11                           Steve RAMON   19           13           6

11           64                           Dietger DAMIAENS          18           9              9

12           81                           Roy SILLIEN         17           10           7

13           151                         Harri KULLAS      15           -              15

14           53                           Greg SMETS        13           5              8

15           2                              Kevin FORS         13           8              5

Trophee Joël Roelants

1              641                         Thomas COVINGTON     50           25           25

2              93                           Jago GEERTS       42           22           20

3              127                         Anthony RODRIGUEZ     36           20           16

4              17                           Brent VAN DONINCK      34           12           22

5              34                           Micha-Boy DE WAAL       33           15           18

6              822                         Mike BOLINK      31           18           13

7              98                           Erik WILLEMS     30           16           14

8              37                           Mark BOOT         25           13           12

9              241                         Kevin HORGMO 24           9              15

10           42                           Tim LOUIS           22           11           11

11           61                           Glenn BIELEN     18           8              10

12           23                           Daymond MARTENS       18           10           8

13           725                         Michael HOOL   18           14           4

14           199                         Lars GRIEKSPOOR            14           5              9

15           197                         Jordan-Lee VAN MAAREN            12           7              5

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KAILUB RUSSELL’S PRO MX DEBUT

GNCC XC1 Champion Kailub Russell was given the opportunity to ride his first Pro Motocross on a Factory KTM this weekend and he made the most of it. With a three-month break in the GNCC series, where he is the current point leader, Russell trained at Aldon Baker’s compound with Marvin Musquin in preparation for round 10 at New Berlin, New York. He was probably hoping for rain, and he got his wish. After qualifing 12th earlier in the day, he made good use of his off-road racing skills as he put his KTM 450SX-F into sixth place off the muddy start. He rode steady in the early laps to put himself into a top-five position after five laps, and he continued to climb as high as third-place by lap eight. With a couple of small crashes late in the race, Russell lost a few positions to ultimately finish sixth in his first-career 450MX race.

Russell got off to a great fourth-place start in Moto 2 and he immediately began mixing it up with the front-runners early on. While running inside the top five, Russell unfortunately got caught up in the tail end of another rider’s crash ahead of him. The impact of the crash ended up breaking Russell’s rear brake pedal and sent him straight to the ground. Despite not having use of the rear brake, Russell re-mounted and charged ahead in the tenth-place position. However, that’s when misfortune struck again as he experienced a high-speed crash that sent him wailing to the ground and ultimately resulted in a banged-up elbow. From there, Russell and his team made the tough decision to call it a day, leaving him with a 30th place finish in Moto 2. Russell was able to salvage 13th overall in his first-ever AMA Pro Motocross National with combined moto scores of 6-30.

Russell: “The day started off really good, I qualified 12th in practice and in the first moto I got off to somewhat of a decent start but I had a lot of trouble keeping my goggles clean the first few laps and there was chaos everywhere. I made a bunch of good passes, I really kind of surprised myself and got up just outside the top five. I actually worked my way into third and was running there for a while but I had a little crash coming out of Gravity Cavity – I had to throw my goggles off and my gloves got all muddy so I struggled to hold onto the bars for the last ten minutes. I had one more tip-over but I rode it in the first moto to a sixth. In the second moto, I got off to a really good start. [Justin] Barcia got around me and then I think he got a little out of control and ended up looping his bike in front of me, which ended up hitting me, broke my brake pedal and I crashed and went down. I got going in tenth and just tried to feel the track out without the rear brake, which was tough today because it was so sloppy and you needed to rely on the brakes in some of the turns. I was riding really well but ended up having a pretty good crash and the bike tackled me and banged my elbow up – it hurt pretty good. Overall, I was really happy to be here and really pleased with my qualifying results and my first moto, but I’m just bummed with all the chaos that unfolded in the second one.”

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Pastrana, Sipes, Ronnie Mac To Ride For Puerto Rico at MXoN

This is not a joke. Travis Pastrana, Ryan Sipes, and—wait for it—Ronnie Mac will race for Team Puerto Rico at the Motocross of Nations at RedBud in October. The Federación de Motociclismo de Puerto Rico Inc. made the announcement today at round ten of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Unadilla. The team will be coached by the legendary Rick Johnson. 

Oh, and all three will be racing two-strokes. Pure gold!

Pastrana has not raced professionally since 2006, but according to a press release sent out by Nitro Circus, has “agreed to make a visit to the gym and dust off his Suzuki RM250 under one condition; the team would need to raise funds to give back to Puerto Rico during their time of need.”

“Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico almost a year ago and still to this day thousands of people are without the basic resources they need. This is an awesome opportunity for the motocross community to get behind and give back to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico.” said Pastrana on his involvement with Team Puerto Rico and the 2018 Motocross of Nations. “I’m also excited to be a part of the largest motocross event ever held in the United States and to give the old guys someone to root for as Team Puerto Rico looks to qualify on two-strokes.”

Sipes, a former factory supercross and motocross rider, transitioned to GNCC, but has competed in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross in recent years, including two rounds in 2018. He’s also racing American Flat Track in 2018 and last weekend won the Buffalo Chip TT.

“Racing in the Motocross of Nations is a dream come true and a once in a lifetime opportunity. To be on a team with one of the best riders to ever throw a leg over a motorcycle is incredible… and my other teammate does double backflips! I can’t wait!”

Ronnie Mac is, well, he’s Ronnie Mac. He offered up this in the press release: “We’re here to win.”

Team Puerto Rico will be raising funds through direct donations and merch sales. A portion of proceeds of all merch sales will be donated to select Puerto Rican organizations designed to provide support to people in need. The organizations receiving funds will be determined in conjunction with the Federación de Motociclismo de Puerto Rico Inc. to ensure they make the largest impact possible.

Walker Wins British Extreme Championship

Jonny Walker has won the British Extreme Enduro Championship finishing in second place behind Joe Wootton at the final round in Wales. Hamish MacDonald was third.

The final round of the British Extreme Championship at Llanfyllin, Wales ran in dry conditions more suited to enduro riders than extreme specialists. But the Fast Eddy Racing course proved a popular one with riders, in particular Joe Wootton who topped the Championship class ahead of Jonny Walker who took second place and with it the British Extreme Enduro Championship for 2018.  

Speaking after the podium, Walker said: “I knew I had to finish third or fourth today to win the championship and to become British Champion is great, a real bonus to my season.”

Walker ran out the winner despite missing the opening round of the series: “I wasn’t initially planning on doing the series and missed the first round but when I saw that Billy [Bolt] and Graham [Jarvis] were doing it I thought I had to do it as well. 

“I won the first round then got two second places, won another and then a second today so it’s been consistent. It’s nice to come home and race in Britain because I don’t get chance to do it enough.”

Commenting on the less technical course for the final round Walker says he was never-the-less giving it his best shot: “It was real fast today and I basically came prepared for a bit more extreme race with super-soft tyres and mousses. It was faster than that today, the tyres were rolling everywhere. Don’t get me wrong I was trying and I gave it my best shot. 

“This is the first round where I have been on a 300 EXC TPI I’m racing in the WESS series. Basically at the start of the year we bought our own bike, a 250F, from Eurotek KTM and they have helped me to be able to do this series so a big thanks to them.” 

 

 

“Going for it” bags Wootton the win

Riding faster than usual in the dry conditions, the Green Hall Farm course played into the hands of EnduroGP rider, Joe Wootton. Joe has form on the more extreme terrain after a fine third in the EnduroGP Juniors at the Trentino GP. 

At the finish though Wootton was surprised to run out the winner: “I’m really pleased. I didn’t expect it at all. I only live just down the road and thought I’d give it a shot just as practice [ahead of the upcoming British Sprint Enduro round at the same venue]. 

“For a lap or so I was thinking, ‘that looks like Jonny Walker in front’ and then for the first hour we just rode together pacing it. Following him was an education really. When it got to a technical bit it was easy to see why he is where he is – he was smooth and would gain loads on me where I was just hitting stuff hard like an enduro rider!

“When Jonny pitted first I thought this is my one chance to make a gap, one lap just go for it and it worked. Also I think he had a slow pit and I opened a gap but it helped that the track was fast and dusty because it suited the 350 four stroke. Overall though I really enjoyed it.”

Rounding out the Championship class podium was the well-travelled Hamish MacDonald mixing up his World Enduro campaign with some British Championship action. James Dent was fourth and the only other rider to clock up 11 laps in the 2.5 hour race. Jordan Scott was fifth with Paul Bolton, perhaps not on his best form in the dry and faster conditions finishing sixth. That result, however means Bolton takes home third overall in the 2018 British Extreme Enduro Championship.